I set the laptop on a table and put the TriField meter directly in front of it. Without any applications running, the magnetic field continually fluctuated between 0 and 4 milligauss. After opening a web browser, the magnetic field would fluctuate between 7 and 10 milligauss for a few seconds and then return to the 0 to 4 range. I went through this sequence for each crystal and neither had any noticeable effect. During each test, the crystal was placed directly on the laptop just below the keyboard.

Perhaps there are benefits to using these crystals that aren’t detectable with the meter, but based on these results, I wouldn’t expect them to make much of a difference.

I spend a lot of time in front of computers. To minimize my exposure, I keep the monitor and CPU as far away from me as possible. As you can tell from the situation I described with my old monitor, different models and brands of equipment vary in the amount of radiation that they produce which is why it’s important to get a meter and test. In my case, it made a tremendous difference.

Based on what I’ve read, crystals and other products that claim to protect you from electromagnetic radiation only provide a minimal reduction and are not nearly as effective as minimizing or eliminating the source. Based on that, they might be good in situations where you’ve already reduced and eliminated as much as you can. I’m actually curious about such products and may order a few just to test them out.

Unfortunately, if you use computer all day long, it’s almost impossible to escape from them. But I heard that some crystals like black tourmaline can help to reduce electromagnetic radiation. It’s a rather cheap stone but I’ve never tested it. If you do get a chance to test it with your measurement device, do let us know. Thanks!

I can appreciate how hard this is to accept after investing in an iPhone, committing to a contract, and becoming attached to its features. However, I think cell phone usage is a legitimate risk that you have to respect just as you would the risks of eating processed food. In fact, the convenience based reasoning that many people use to justify the consumption of processed foods is similar to that used for frequent cell phone usage.

If your job requires the use of a cell phone and this is something that you’re willing to accept, then all you can do is make the best compromise possible and not obsess over it. There are still precautions you can take such as limiting your use to essential business conversations, using a wired headset instead of holding the phone against your head, not using data features more than you need to, not having the phone always against your body, and shutting the phone off during the times that you don’t need it. I also suggest checking to see if there’s a way to control how often the iPhone checks for email and how frequently it performs other automated data transfers.

There’s no right answer here. The bottom line is that you have to make a personal choice about how much potential risk you’re willing to assume in exchange for convenience and enjoyment. Like the people who live long lives despite being smokers and following awful diets, using the iPhone without restriction may not cause you any problems. It’s up to you to decide if this is a risk worth taking. Learn as much as you can and be happy with your choice.

I know this is something that you won’t want to hear, but if you look up the iPhone, the iPhone 3G, and the iPhone 3G S on the EWG’s list of SAR ratings, all three have high (unfavorable) ratings which is also worth considering.

Although Ceragem claims that their pad absorbs electromagnetic radiation from other sources, the following statement leads me to believe that it creates some radiation of it’s own as well:

“The patented 3-layer heating wire allows the electrical currents to flow in opposite directions to minimize EMF production.”

Regardless of how well and consciously this pad is designed, I would be concerned about sleeping on anything that produces current. There are even bed pads that are meant to produce a therapeutic electromagnetic field, and although some types of electromagnetic radiation are indeed therapeutic, some people believe that they can be detrimental if overused. Sleeping on such a pad every night is a lot of exposure!

Perhaps in a situation where there is ambient electromagnetic radiation that can’t be eliminated, the Ceragem pad could have a net reducing effect, but I think it would be very difficult to know for sure. If I had unavoidable radiation in my bedroom, I would consider putting a mesh screen over my bed to block it before using any type of electrical bed pad. I know that sounds extreme and unsightly, but it’s definitely a much more conservative approach.

You might want to rethink keeping your cordless phone around just for the caller ID. From what I understand, the base station of a cordless phone constantly transmits signals. I have two corded phones in my house and they both have a big caller ID display.

Doing the best we can is all that we can do! By putting away your microwave and minimizing your cell phone usage, you’ve already done much more than most people.